MOZAMBIQUE
I travelled to Mozambique in 2014. ​

If you hear drumming the late afternoons while travelling around Cabo Delgado, it likely means Mapiko -- the famed masked dancing of the Makonde.  The dancer -- always a man -- wears a special wooden lipiko mask, with decorated with exaggerated features, hair and facial etchings.  The dancer's body is completely covered with large pieces of cloth wrapped around the legs, arms and body.  The idea is that the dancer represents the spirit person who has come to do harm to the women and children, from which only the men of the village can protect them.  Once the dancer is ready, distinctive rhythms are beaten on special mapiko drums.*

Since the signing of the peace accords after the civil war, Mozamique's rich artistic traditions have been at the forefront, and today -- despite an influx of Western influences -- are thriving.*

I noticed this spontaneous dancer in the Paquitequete bairro.

At Ibo Island's northern end is the star-shaped Fort of Sao Joao, which was built in 1791 and designed to accommodate up to 300 people.  In the days when Ibo was linked into the slave trade, the fort's dark, cramped lower chambers were used as slave holding points.  Today it's know for the silver artisans who have set up show near the entrance.*

On Pemba's outskirts, the most intriguing neighbourhood is Paquitequete on the southwestern edge of the peninsula and is Pemba's oldest settlement.  In contrast with other bairros, which are newer and more heterogeneous, the population here is almost exclusively Muslim, and prodominantly Mwani and Makua.*  

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The Mozambican side of Lake Niassa is beautiful and, in contrast to the Malawian side, almost completely undeveloped.  Most local residents are Nyanja ('People of the Lake'), and their distinctively painted square, thached dwellings dot the countryside.*

Ibo, the best-known of the Quirimbas islands, is an enchanting place.  Its quiet streets are lined with dilapidated villas and crumbling, most-covered buildings, and echo with silent, hollow footsteps of bygone centuries.*

*These captions are from Madagascar - a Lonely Planet Guide​